After being separated from my family, I became a darling of the military region thanks to my medical

Vice Minister Li had nothing to say.

He held the phone receiver between his shoulder and cheek, freeing his hands to rub his temples.

"Okay, you handle this. You really aren't going to pick me up at the airport?"

"I really won't go. Vice Minister Li, the children can't wait."

"Then I'll arrange for Dean Zhou Hai and your spouse to accompany me, is that alright?"

"Ask Gu Zheng; if he can go, then he can."

Vice Minister Li finally couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"You little rascal."

"Vice Minister Li, I'll hang up now. The next patient is waiting."

"Wait, one last thing."

Vice Minister Li stopped laughing and straightened his posture.

"How do you plan to deal with that Gore evaluation team?"

There was a pause on the other end of the phone.

"Let them do it."

Ye Zhen's voice was neither hurried nor slow.

"I'm just missing an opportunity to publicly verify the reproducibility of the procedure. If they want to find fault, they have to look at my data first. If they still want to find fault after looking at it, then they can go to the operating table and see how I do it in person."

"Whether they write a report saying my proposal is no good, or go back to the board and say that the £2,000 patch is not selling well—it's up to them to choose."

Vice Minister Li went over these words in his mind and found that he couldn't find a single word to refute them.

"Okay, I understand. You go ahead with your work, leave the airport pickup and foreign affairs reception to me."

"Um."

The phone hangs up.

All that could be heard from the receiver was a busy tone.

Vice Minister Li held the microphone and sat there in a daze for a long while.

"Xiao Liu."

"exist."

"Call President Zhou Hai of the Beicheng Military Region General Hospital and ask him to come to the airport the day after tomorrow morning to pick up the person with me."

"it is good."

"Call Ye Zhen's lover, Gu Zheng, again—"

Vice Minister Li paused for a moment, then smiled slightly.

"Never mind, I'll type this myself."

Xiao Liu was stunned for a moment, but didn't dare to ask why. He obediently went out to make a phone call.

Vice Minister Li was the only one left in the office.

He picked up the half-cooled tea, took a sip, and shook his head.

A young woman in her early twenties was haggling with the Vice Minister of Health, constantly talking about tuition fees and fair trade, refusing to utter a single word of loss or take a single dishonest step.

And yet, you can't do anything about her.

Every word she said made sense, and every point she made was valid. The more you followed her words, the more you realized—this girl was right.

Vice Minister Li shook his head again, put down his teacup, pulled over the hardcover telephone book on the table, flipped through a few pages, and found Gu Zheng's military contact number.

The phone rang twice before it connected.

The voice on the other end had a slightly lazy feel to it.

"Feed".

"Little Gu, I'm your Uncle Li."

Vice Minister Li consciously made his seniority clear. He knew that official titles couldn't intimidate this person; it was better to cultivate a personal relationship.

"Uncle Li, what a rare guest."

Gu Zheng's tone softened somewhat.

"What is it?"

"You know that Sir Williams from England is bringing people to learn your wife's techniques, right?"

"Know."

"You'll arrive the day after tomorrow. Zhou Hai and I will pick you up from the airport—your wife said she's busy with patients and can't go. You've dealt with Williams before, so I'd like you to come with me and make an impression."

There was a pause on the other end of the phone.

"OK."

They agreed readily.

Vice Minister Li had barely breathed a sigh of relief when Gu Zheng spoke again.

"Uncle Li, how many men did Williams bring this time?"

"He himself plus three surgeons, four people in total. There's also a group from Gore, five to seven people, they might all arrive together."

"Two groups arriving at the same time?"

"The Williams group came to learn, at their own expense. The Gore group is probably here to cause trouble; someone is paying for them."

"Are you picking a fight with my wife?"

Vice Minister Li subconsciously pressed the receiver closer to his ear, waiting for the other end to explode.

It didn't explode.

Gu Zheng hummed in response, his tone as indifferent as plain water.

"understood."

Vice Minister Li was taken aback for a moment.

That's it?

When did this guy change his ways?

When someone travels all the way from overseas to pick a fight with his wife, he just says, "I know."

"Xiao Gu, you don't have any other thoughts?"

"Uncle Li, you're right."

Gu Zheng chuckled, his tone unusually calm.

"They are a legitimate academic organization, and it's not easy for them to fly all this way. Whether they're here to learn or to visit, they are all guests. We Chinese have the custom of hospitality—to be warm, considerate, and make guests feel at home."

Vice Minister Li's brow furrowed involuntarily.

There's nothing wrong with what he said, but coming from Gu Zheng, it just felt... a little off.

"But my husband..."

Gu Zheng's tone shifted, surprisingly carrying a hint of helplessness.

"Uncle Li, you know her temper. She's always talking about tuition fees and how invaluable her skills are. I feel bad for her."

The teacup in Vice Minister Li's hand stopped in mid-air.

Gu Zheng felt embarrassed for Ye Zhen?

This sounds so awkward.

"Who is Williams? He's a lifetime fellow of the Royal Society. For him to swallow his pride and come to us to ask to learn from us is a huge favor."

Gu Zheng's voice was slow and deliberate, each word spoken with perfect composure.

"We can't let them feel disappointed. We must treat them well and make proper arrangements. When they come, let them eat and drink well, and let them see the surgery to their heart's content. What is this? This is called the demeanor of a great nation."

Vice Minister Li could no longer drink his tea.

He put the cup back on the table, squinted his eyes, and carefully considered every word Gu Zheng said.

Great power demeanor?

"Little Gu..."

Vice Minister Li carefully considered his words before speaking, "What you said is all correct and reasonable. But I just want to confirm—when you go to pick someone up at the airport the day after tomorrow, is it... a normal pick-up?"

"Of course I answered it normally."

Gu Zheng's tone carried an air of self-righteousness.

"Uncle Li, don't you know me? I really didn't have any experience picking up Williams last time. I've reflected on it this time and I promise to be polite and courteous, and I will never let any of our international friends have an unpleasant experience."

He paused.

"As for the Gore group—they're here for academic inquiry, so we should treat them with even more courtesy. If they come to find fault, it means they value our work. And if, after they've done their job, our proposal is truly sound, wouldn't that be perfect? ​​Everyone's happy."

Vice Minister Li remained silent.

He went over every word Gu Zheng said in his mind twice.

No problem.

Not a single word of it is wrong.

But it was precisely this inability to "find a single word" that sent a chill down his spine.

When Gu Zheng is acting nonchalant, you know he's not up to any bad intentions; at most, he's just playing pranks.

When you're being serious...

"OK."

Vice Minister Li's voice was dry and monotone.

"It's settled then. See you at the airport at 8 a.m. the day after tomorrow."

"Alright."

Gu Zheng deserved it.

Just as Vice Minister Li was about to hang up, another sentence came from the other end.

"By the way, Uncle Li, Williams seemed to really like our jasmine tea when he left last time. Could you have someone prepare a few good cans for him to have a welcome-back dinner?"

"……OK."

"And Quanjude, he really enjoyed their Peking duck last time. This time there are a lot of people, so I booked a table in advance so that our guests who have come from afar can all try our Beijing specialty."

"……Um."

"I'll cover the expenses. It's not appropriate to use public funds, so I'll pay out of my own pocket as a way of showing hospitality."

Vice Minister Li's grip on the receiver tightened slightly.

Paying out of his own pocket?

"Okay, okay, you can make the arrangements."

Vice Minister Li quickened his pace, as if he wanted to hang up the phone as soon as possible.

See you the day after tomorrow.

"Uncle Li, I'll get back to work now."

Gu Zheng spoke gently, and then added a final sentence.

"I'll talk to Ye Zhen later and tell her to stop being so pretentious. When it comes to academic exchanges, you need to have a broader perspective. If you're always focusing on petty details, people will laugh at you."

"……Um."

The phone hangs up.

Vice Minister Li put the receiver back on the landline, his hand still pressed against the microphone, staring blankly at the table.

The office was extremely quiet.

The sunlight streamed in through the window, falling on the cover of the hardcover notebook, where the words "Royal Society of Cardiothoracic Surgery from the UK Studying in China" were edged in gold.

This is the first time in over thirty years since the founding of the People's Republic of China.

This should be something to be happy about.

Vice Minister Li picked up the now-cold tea, took a sip, put down the cup, and stared blankly at the ceiling for a long time.

He mentally went over Gu Zheng's phone call from beginning to end for the third time.

A great power should act with courtesy, even if it means paying out of its own pocket; it should have a broader perspective.

Every single sentence is correct.

Every sentence sounds like a standard answer printed in a foreign affairs reception manual.

Unfortunately, the person who said these things was neither from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor from the Protocol Department.

It's that kid Gu Zheng.

Vice Minister Li slowly exhaled.

He'll be picking them up at the airport the day after tomorrow, so he'll have to be extra careful—not only dealing with two groups of foreign experts.

We still need to keep an eye on Gu Zheng.

The girl made it sound so easy, "You should ask Gu Zheng."

He only understood after I asked him.

At least Ye Yatou is playing her cards openly, so there's still some room for caution.

This guy is playing dirty tricks.

Who knows what kind of dirty trick this kid is up to?